Gelato Festival 2014

Apparently unfazed by the cool end to a disappointing summer, enthusiasts are gathering in Milan’s central Piazza Castello for a four-day celebration of what is probably Italy’s most popular dessert.

A mobile workshop for creating ice cream on the spot, which the organisers claim is the biggest in the world, has been set up and dedicated to chef Bernardo Buontalenti, believed to have invented the dish in Florence in 1559.

Over 150 masters of the art will be demonstrating the production of scores of flavours at the end of a tour of over 10,000 km visiting 14 cities in Italy and the rest of Europe.

Dozens of students from Milan’s Istituto Carlo Porta, a hotellier and gastronomy training college with Michelin-starred chefs among its graduates, will have a chance to work and learn alongside the master creators, following in the tradition of artisan workshops.

Dessert gourmets can buy a €12-euro Gelato Card (€10 for under-18s) which buys five sample ices and a gelato cocktail – and if that wasn’t enough, the card can be “re-charged” at €7 for another five samples. Yet another sample can be won by voting the best flavour. The card also authorises the holder to take part in an ice-cream chef’s course. Buying the Geato Card online beings a discount of €2.

The festival will be open from 12.00 to midnight from Thursday 25 to Sunday 28 September.